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Homicide sub-type data

Published 11 December 2023

Applies to England and Wales

The Home Office Homicide Index contains detailed record-level information about each homicide recorded by police in England and Wales. The Office for National Statistics publish analyses of these data on an annual basis.^{[footnote 1]} This note contains further analysis conducted by Home Office Analysis and Insight of the Homicide Index data for a three-year period to the year ending March 2022.

All analysis is based on the Home Office Homicide Index as at 6 December 2022. The data will change as subsequent court hearings take place or as further information is received.

Homicide sub-types

These homicide sub-types categorise homicides by type of victim, with the aim to help target policy interventions. The key determining characteristics are sex, age, location and whether the homicide was domestic-related or not. The breakdown by victim allows for mutually exclusive groups. The sub-types cover 95% of all homicides. The sub-type groups are: 

1. Female victims of domestic homicide^{[footnote 2]}
2. Male victims of domestic homicide
3. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged under 25, in a public space
4. Female victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 16 and over
5. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 25 and over in a public space
6. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 25 and over in a residential space
7. All victims aged under 16, where the location is residential, other location or unknown location

Key characteristics

Table 1a shows the number of offences within each homicide sub-type that were flagged as alcohol-related^{[footnote 3]}, drug-related^{[footnote 4]} or involving the use of a sharp instrument^{[footnote 5]} for the period year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2022.

Table 1b shows the percentage of each homicide sub-type flagged as drug-related, alcohol-related, and involving the use of a sharp instrument over the same period (year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2022).

While the homicide sub-types are mutually exclusive, the characteristics (drug-related, alcohol-related, and sharp instrument) are not mutually exclusive. We cannot say for certain which characteristics (if any) were the main driver of a homicide.

Key findings

Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 25+ in a public space was the largest volume homicide sub-type (447 homicides) for the combined period year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2022. This group had the highest volume of alcohol related homicides (186) and drug-related homicides (260).

Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged under 25, in a public space (275 homicides) had the highest volume of homicides involving the use of a sharp instrument (187 homicides). This group also had a high proportion of drug-related homicides (65%).

Table 1a: Number of offences currently recorded as homicide, by sub-type and various breakdowns, England and Wales, combined data for year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2022

Sub-type	Alcohol-related	Drug-related	Main method - sharp instrument	Total Homicides
1. Female victims of domestic homicide	67	83	124	249
2. Male victims of domestic homicide	51	59	73	121
3. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged under 25, in a public space	51	179	187	275
4. Female victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 16+	78	83	34	240
5. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 25+ in a public space	186	260	156	447
6. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 25+ in a residential space	172	237	147	380
7. All victims aged under 16, where the location is residential, other location or unknown location	9	26	10	122
Other	19	71	54	105

Source: Home Office Homicide Index

Notes:

1. A homicide is recorded as ‘alcohol-related’ if the victim or suspect has consumed alcohol at the time of the homicide. Including those that have consumed alcohol and drugs.
2. A homicide is recorded as ‘drug-related’ if the offence involved drug users, or dealers, or has been related to drugs in any way.
3. Year ending March 2020 includes 39 human trafficking victims who were found dead in a lorry in Essex (12 in sub-type 3; 9 in sub-type 4; and 18 in sub-type 5).
4. All non-domestic sub-types include cases where no suspect has been charged.
5. The characteristics (drug-related, alcohol related, and sharp instrument) are not mutually exclusive and therefore may not add up to total homicides.

Table 1b: Percentage of offences currently recorded as homicide, by sub-type and various breakdowns, England and Wales, combined data for year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2022

Sub-type	Alcohol-related	Drug-related	Main method - sharp instrument
1. Female victims of domestic homicide	27%	33%	50%
2. Male victims of domestic homicide	42%	49%	60%
3. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged under 25, in a public space	19%	65%	68%
4. Female victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 16+	33%	35%	14%
5. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 25+ in a public space	42%	58%	35%
6. Male victims of non-domestic homicide, aged 25+ in a residential space	45%	62%	39%
7. All victims aged under 16, where the location is residential, other location or unknown location	7%	21%	8%
Other	18%	68%	51%

Source: Home Office Homicide Index

Notes:

1. A homicide is recorded as ‘alcohol-related’ if the victim or suspect has consumed alcohol at the time of the homicide. Including those that have consumed alcohol and drugs.
2. A homicide is recorded as ‘drug-related’ if the offence involved drug users, or dealers, or has been related to drugs in any way.
3. Year ending March 2020 includes 39 human trafficking victims who were found dead in a lorry in Essex (12 in sub-type 3; 9 in sub-type 4; and 18 in sub-type 5).
4. All non-domestic sub-types include cases where no suspect has been charged
5. The characteristics (alcohol-related, drug-related, and sharp instrument) are not mutually exclusive, therefore percentages may not add up to 100.

1. Homicide in England and Wales: year ending March 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ↩

2. Homicides are recorded to be “domestic” when the relationship between a victim aged 16 years and over and the perpetrator falls into one of the following categories: spouse, common-law spouse, cohabiting partner, boyfriend or girlfriend, ex-spouse, ex-cohabiting partner or ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, adulterous relationship, son or daughter (including step and adopted relationships), parent (including step and adopted relationships), brother or sister, other relatives. ↩

3. A homicide is recorded as ‘alcohol-related’ if the victim or suspect has consumed alcohol at the time of the homicide. Including those that have consumed alcohol and drugs. The victim/suspect drink level is based on witness statements, intelligence reports or toxicology results. ↩

4. A homicide is recorded as ‘drug-related’ if the offence involved drug users, or dealers, or has been related to drugs in any way. This is a broad definition and likely to include cases where drugs were not directly involved in the homicide (e.g. cases where the victim and/or suspect was previously known to use drugs, but were not using at the time of the homicide). ↩

5. ‘Sharp instrument’: number of offences currently recorded as homicide where the main method of killing was a sharp instrument. ↩